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They predict a significant increase in the number of people wanting to visit the country now that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has effectively declared that it believes the country is coping with the continuing radioactive fallout from the Fukushima nuclear plant caused by the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in March 2011.

Even before Saturday night’s vote in favour of the Japanese capital, many UK-based operators said they were having a bumper year in terms of people booking trips to Japan, with some saying they were heading for record breaking figures.

“The vote in favour of Tokyo will have a huge impact on people who had remained scared about what happened in 2011 and its continuing fallout,” said Regina Galkina of ViaJapan Holidays. “There is no way Tokyo would have been named the Olympic city if it was not safe. People with doubts will now be more inclined to go.”

Her views were echoed by James Mundy of Inside Japan, another specialist company. “The Olympic Committee would never have awarded the Games to Tokyo if they thought athletes and visitors would be exposed to radioactivity. This vote puts the problems in Tokyo into a wider perspective – and it has forced the Japanese government to act decisively.

“We always tell our clients that Fukishima is as far away from Tokyo as Bruges is from London. Also, radioactive readings from Tokyo are consistently less than in cities like London and New York.”

In the countdown to Saturday’s vote, renewed concerns were raised about radioactive material from Fukushima finding its way into the Pacific Ocean. The Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe assured members of the IOC that problems at the Fukushima nuclear plant were under control and that “it has never done and will never do any damage to Tokyo.”

Even before the vote in favour of Tokyo, the number of British visitors to Japan had risen considerably. In the first seven months of this year some 111,300 Britons made trips to Japan, a 22 per cent increase compared with the same period in 2012 – and a higher number than the 107,391 who travelled there in the first seven months of 2010, the year before the earthquake/tsunami.

According to Kylie Clark of the Japan National Tourist Organisation there has been a lot of “pent-up” demand from people who put off travelling to Japan while concerns about the post earthquake situation remained intense.

Another factor has been a significant reduction in the value of the yen: this year the Japanese currency has dropped from 120 yen to the pound in January to 156 yen today, so that although the country could still hardly be described as cheap, it is much more affordable.

“We have been having a bumper year,” said Mundy of Inside Japan. “Our sales are 20 per cent up and with all eyes now turning again towards Tokyo they are likely to rise further.”

Mundy is expecting a lot of interest next year, the 50th anniversary of the last time Tokyo hosted the Olympic Games in 1964 and also the 50th anniversary of the first Shinkansen (Bullet Train).

“After the terrible events of 2011 this vote is a huge boost for Tokyo,” he said. “And I am sure that just as people who visited in 2002 when the country hosted the Football World Cup, all those going for 2020 will return with a very different view of the city.”